It took them some time to digest the truth of Narakasura’s death. For a while they didn’t even realize that they were free!
Uddhavabhauji who had the knack to promptly read people’s minds, realized it. Straining his voice chords, he declared again in a loud voice to assist them to comprehend the truth, “You are really free! Not prisoners anymore! You are free to go anywhere. Narakasura has been killed.” Now that ocean of women came to their senses. Some of them whispered amongst themselves, trying to convince each other, while pointing fingers to the broken gate and Sri. Their words were vaguely audible, ‘Free... released... to go anywhere!’ A bold, young woman among them came forward. Raising her arm, she let out a cry of freedom....’Hail Lord of Dwaraka, Maharaja Srikrishna!’ Thousands of women joined her, ‘Victory....victory!’ Within moments these women for whom the prison life had become unbearable, left joyously, chattering in groups, brushing against each other, through the broken gate. The efficient commanders also freed the women captive in the royal prison.
After releasing all the women from both prisons, Sri arrived at the open square in front of the royal palace of Pragjyotishapura along with the royal council. Here the infantry troop leader presented a young royal prisoner of war in front of him. He was Narakasura’s son Bhagdutta! He was scared to death due to the unexpected precipitous events that had taken place. As usual, Sri had already gathered information about him. He was not at all involved in the subjugation stint of his father and his commanders. He was righteous from birth. But now he was terrified, thinking that he was going to be executed as a punishment. Sri discussed him with Uddhavabhauji. Then he stepped forward and affectionately put his hand on Bhagdutta’s shoulder. He immediately bowed down and held Sri’s feet. Sri patted him and pulling him up, held him close to his generous heart, and said, “Bhagdutta, let go of your fear. You are the one who is going to look after this kingdom. Not the way your father did, but in your own way. Cremate your father on the banks of the Brahmaputra.” Sri gave on the spot orders to the army commanders, “As the Asuras don’t follow the tradition of the mourning period, organize the coronation of this Asura king, Bhagdutta, tomorrow itself in the main square of the city. I am going to crown him with the royal crown of the Asuras in presence of the Asura citizens. Announce this all over the city.”
That night after dinner Sri was resting and discussing things with Uddhavabhauji and Bhama in the capacious encampment erected on the banks of the Lohitganga. The Karanjel oil torches were burning dimly inside. Armed guards were walking outside. Uddhavabhauji said, “Dada, as per your nature you will easily forget it, but I will never forget this blessed day.”
Just then, first the whispering of seven-eight women was heard. Followed by that, intimidating words of the Yadava guards to stop them were heard. Sri only glanced at his brother. Catching that signal his brother went outside the pavilion. In a short while he returned with a group of seven-eight women and said, “They want to say something. I have heard it. Their problem is difficult indeed. Dada should hear it directly from them.”
The young woman who had courageously stepped forward earlier said, “Maharaja, we all are indebted to you, with a debt that could never be repaid. You have given us the light of freedom that we never even imagined. You have kind-heartedly given us the freedom to go anywhere. But...but...” she hesitated. She didn’t know how to say what she wanted to say. “But what? Don’t hesitate to speak freely. Don’t be afraid.” Sri comforted her.
She gasped and gathering courage, said, “Some of us live here, in the city of Pragjyotishapura itself. When you freed them they joyously rushed back to their homes. But ...” she stopped again.
“But what? Speak ...” A subtle crease, never seen before, appeared on Sri’s forehead.
“But Maharaja, their own family is not ready to accept them because they are disgraced, defiled. You freed them, but their own families did not accept them. If the society doesn’t accept us, where should we go? We can’t even go back to the Asura prison as it has already been destroyed. You have killed Asura. Where should we go? How should we face the world? What should we do?” She was Kasheru, the sixteen-year-old daughter of king Twashtta. She bent her head and started sobbing with agony.
Sri went around in the pavilion with his hands behind his back. He muttered something to himself. Then with the same beautiful smile on his face as usual he said to his brother, “Udho, present all these women tomorrow in the main square of the city, at the time of the coronation. Let’s offer justice to them too. The problem that you perceive is not a problem at all. It will be solved in my own way. Take them back to their group.”
The next day the central square of Pragjyotishapura was packed with men and women of Kamarupa. In the centre of the square a spacious coronation altar had been raised under a tall canopy. All the material needed for the ceremony was neatly placed on the altar. Citizens had come out in great numbers to welcome the new youthful king. Half an hour before the Muhurta the hilly musical instruments reverberated. As per Uddhavabhauji’s instruction the sixteen thousand women liberated from the prison were also present. The mammoth crowd was encircled by the Yadava warriors. As the Muhurta of Bhagdutta’s coronation drew close, Sri arrived in the adorned Garudadhwaja chariot along with Bhagdutta. As the high-pitched instruments began playing for their welcome the murmur died down. Keeping Bhagdutta on his right Sri began walking on the carpets spread on the ground, offering greetings to the citizens of Kamarupa with utter humility. Behind him were Uddhavabhauji, both commanders and Bhama. Citizens standing on both sides showered flowers on the royal league walking towards the altar.
Sri took Bhagdutta with him and ascended the altar along with others. A welcoming round of applause followed.
The priests began intoning the mantras in a deep voice. The moment the first jar of sacred water was poured on Bhagdutta’s head he felt purified inside out. No one in his Asura dynasty, including his father, had had such luck. Their way was to usurp the kingdom by betrayal.
After the Abhishek, Bhagdutta donned the traditional Asura royal costume. It was mostly suitable for mountain life. He had fastened a deer skin over his loin cloth as was their tradition. He wore pearl necklaces around his neck along with colourful necklaces of wild beads. The insignia of the Asura dynasty, a roaring tiger face on copper medal, was hanging on his chest.
The royal priest brought Bhagdutta near the elevated royal seat placed in the centre of the altar. The time-measuring earthen cups floating in the copper vessels placed in the four corners of the altar were about to sink. The chief priest who carried the platter with the traditional crown of the Asuras, came in front of Sri and bowed down to request him. Sri got up and approached the elevated royal seat in the centre, adorned with garlands. Before picking up the crown, he held the Paanchajanya that was tied skilfully in the shawl around his waist, in his lean-fingered hands. He raised his head high and with all his might blew such a divine tune of the conch that the Asura priest chanting the mantra and the local instruments stopped right away as if they were turned off. The amassed crowd of men and women inadvertently moved towards the altar. As the time-measuring vessels were sinking, Sri placed the royal crown of Kamarupa on Bhagdutta’s head. While showering fistfuls of flowers over the altar millions of voices cheered, ‘Hail Lord of Dwaraka Bhagvan Srikrishna Maharaja! Victory! Victory!! Hail king of Kamarupa Bhagdutta Maharaja – victory – victory!’
Bhagdutta sat in the Virasana pose near Sri’s feet in front of everybody. He took off his crown and humbly put it down near Sri’s feet, and overwhelmed with emotions he put his head on Sri’s feet with gratitude.
Sri picked up the crown in one hand and pulled him up with the other hand. He put the crown on Bhagdutta’s head and embraced him.
Bhagdutta’s minister moved forward and raising both hands, he silenced the crowd. He said, “Bhagvan Srikrishna Maharaja will now give his blessings to our new Maharaja. We have only heard a lot about him, especially about his ambrosial speech.
At this auspicious moment, we request him to give us the privilege of hearing it and feeling grateful and blessed.”
Sri casually rested his hand on the golden lion head that was engraved on the right hand-rest of the royal seat and stood up. He started speaking in a voice as melodious as the Vina, “Brothers and sisters of Kamarupa kingdom, I am officially pronouncing this great Asura, Bhagdutta, as your new king from today! You all have experienced and know very well how brutally and dissolutely his father ruled the kingdom. I believe that this new king of yours will never follow that route. He will hold the ideal of the high mountains of the Kamarupa kingdom in front of him. He will look after his subjects like his own children with the understanding that growth and progress are the key attributes of life. My blessings will always be with him. The Dwaraka kingdom will also support if required.
“Oh citizens, I consider Bhagdutta like my own son. Therefore, right from this moment, I consciously and gladly take it upon me to rectify whatever sinful act his father Narakasura has committed putting the human race to shame. The Yadavas and I have freed thousands of these Arya women whom Narakasura had forcibly imprisoned and who have suffered innumerable atrocities at his hands. I have come to know that the society obsessed by superstitions is not ready to accept them. It considers them as disgraceful, unchaste and shameful. What is their mistake in all this? Nothing at all. Therefore, at this moment I, Srikrishna, the son of Maharaja Vasudeva of Dwaraka from the Vrushni-Andhaka dynasty, am publicly granting an assurance of safety to all of them.
“With the assistance of the Kamarupa minister and warriors my dear brother Uddhava stayed awake the entire night and has made thousands of Mangalsutras with a single ‘Black Bead’ woven in a thread. I will touch the platters full of these Mangalsutras declaring that I have accepted all of them as my wives and assure them safety. With the assistance of the warriors, brother Uddhava will give one of those to each one of you. Wearing it around your neck, you should fearlessly tell anybody anywhere in the entire Aaryavarta with your head held high that you are the wife of Maharaja Srikrishna, the Lord of Dwaraka!
“You belong to Dwaraka from today. Consider it as your own parental home and live freely. Just as I rehabilitated millions of Yadavas in Dwaraka I am doing the same for you. Indeed, from today, right from this moment, you have become truly free and will remain free!”
Now huge ships full of Kamarupa women began crossing the creek and arriving at the Shuddhaksha gate of Dwaraka. The leader of the troop of guards accompanying them had already shared this news in detail with me. As the Maharani and Sri’s wife I accepted those women and proved that the faith which Sri had placed in me was right. Prior to this I had already welcomed three women like my own sisters. With that same affection, I welcomed these thousands of women now. As per Sri’s message I braced myself and got engaged in the mission of their rehabilitation.
Now I was waiting to see Sri in person. Hearing all the news about Bhama I was really eager to meet her and listen to all the heroic exploits of Sri. But the troop leader who came, brought news which conveyed that I would have to wait one more month to meet Sri. Sri had gone to the Kosala kingdom of King Nagnajita along with Bhama. From there he was directly going to Himavana. He was going to fulfil his long-cherished desire to visit the self-existent Himalinga in the cavern of Amaranath. I could understand that he was going to see the Himalinga. But why he went to the Kosala kingdom, was a puzzle. That is why I tried to dig some information out of the troop leader. But he also didn’t know the reason.
I had heard a lot about the self-existent Shivalinga of Amaranath. I too had a strong urge many a times to see it at least once. Now as a wife I was going to have to see it only through Satyabhama’s eyes. For that reason, I was waiting so eagerly to see her. After a fortnight, the news of Sri’s heroic feat in the Kosala kingdom arrived in Dwaraka. He hadn’t gone there for no reason. Nagnajita had dispatched an exclusive royal envoy to Pragjyotishapura and challenged Sri’s status as the Lord of Dwaraka. His message was, ‘It is easy to marry sixteen thousand imprisoned women, especially after emancipating them. But it is challenging to win the princess of Kosala after fulfilling the condition of the Swayamwar. The challenge is for a brave Kshatriya who can put the nasal bridle on the seven robust bulls of my kingdom in front of all the citizens and yoke them to a bullock cart. If you have the guts to fulfil the condition then come to Shravasti, the royal capital of the Kosalas on the banks of Gandaki!’
Sri was not going to stop after hearing such a message. He dispatched his own messenger along with the Kosala envoy and sent a message to Nagnajita, ‘From childhood I am used to reining robust, intoxicated bulls back. I am a gopa-cowherd inside out. How can a cowherd be afraid of a bull? I have also put reins on many impudent male bulls among the citizens since becoming the Lord of Dwaraka! I am a gopa in that sense too!’
As per the message he sent, Sri reached the Kosala kingdom along with the army, passing Vanga kingdom on the left and crossing the river Kaushiki. The Magadha kingdom was just adjacent to it. Sri had kept a keen eye on the military movements of Jarasandha there. While going, he had astutely avoided the Magadha kingdom, passing by its southern border. While returning, he had again avoided it, passing by its northern border. During the reign of Shrirama, Kosalas’ royal capital was Ayodhya on the banks of Sharayu. Moving to the east it had now become Shravasti on the banks of Gandaki. Gandaki was also called Sadnira. It carried clear white water just as its name denoted.
The news of Sri’s arrival to fulfil the condition of the Swayamwar of Kosala daughter Satya reached the open-air game arena marked for the Swayamwar. At once the amassed men and women of Kosala began running. They hurried in flocks towards the Garudadhwaja chariot as if pulled by some force, to take a look at Sri.
Sri entered the Swayamwar arena in the Garudadhwaj chariot surrounded by the roaring crowd of the Kosala citizens. Bhama and Uddhavbhauji were also in the chariot. As soon as Sri saw the seven robust bellowing bulls in a secured wooden enclosure in front, he descended from the chariot, highly charged. A big-wheeled sturdy bullock cart adorned with garlands stood in the centre of the rink. Ten-twenty nasal bridles made with saffron coloured ropes decorated with designs of creepers made with golden threads were laid on the colourful seat of the cart. Near the vacant cart with its yoke resting on the ground, seven hefty humped Kosala bulls were bellowing and moving around insolently, ready to ram in to anybody they saw. Sri instantaneously tucked his yellow silk dhoti tight. While everybody watched flabbergasted, in the midst of the instrumental sounds he descended in the secured arena shouting, ‘Hail Goddess Ida’. He charged at the seven bulls. Then the only thing visible was the fierce fight between fleeting lines of the charging bulls of different colours like white, reddish and black and a single bluish line dodging them with agility. The citizens of Kosala got a glimpse in person of how dada and Sri had defeated the giant Kuvalayapida elephant of Kansa in Mathura. No one understood how the nimble, blue line in front of them dodged each bull swiftly and exhausted them one after another and when the nasal bridle lying on the seat of the cart was inserted in their already drooping, dripping, fretting nostrils.
Just within half an hour Sri put the nasal bridles on all seven bulls. As he yoked them to the bullock cart standing next to them, and went around the game arena at top speed, the shower of thunderous applause, inspirational shouts reverberated. ‘Hail Srikrishna – gopa king of Gokul, Lord of Dwaraka – the macho one among the kings – victory to him! The son-in-law of Kosala, venerable Yadava Srikrishnadeva, victory.... victory!’
By this time the foam and streams of saliva dripping from the muzzles of the tired and exhausted Kosala bulls had dropped on the ground. One of the four snow white horses of Garudadhwaja, who was continuously staring at the huffing, terrified bulls for the last half an hour, neighed, shaking its tail. At that same moment, Satya, the daughter of Kosala had put the white flower garland around the neck of the gopa of Dwaraka. River Sadnira witnessed the blessed event t
hat took place on its bank and was now flowing gently.
Obviously, it was going to be me who would have to fulfil the duty of welcoming Sri’s fifth wife arriving with one of the troop leaders. I prepared my mind for that. How did this Kshatriya lady, Satya, from the foothills of the Himavana look like, behave like, and how would she get used to the life in Dwaraka? Such thoughts kept rising in my mind constantly.
A few days passed in this. Suddenly one day in the welcoming chamber of the Shuddhaksha gate where various musical instruments were played, a specific tune of the kettle drums and flutes ensued which was well known to me. It was meant only for Sri’s wives on the island of Queens’ mansions. I myself had purposefully instructed the chief there to include many flute players so that it would be easily recognized.
Today this tune was being played continuously and at a high pitch. I surmised that Satya had arrived.
Just two days ago, I had arrived in original Dwaraka from the island of Queens’ mansions along with Jambavati and Mitravinda. Here both of them lived in my palace. I took them with me and with great curiosity I arrived at the Shuddhaksha gate to welcome Satya. I was completely astonished to see Satyabhama herself assisting Satya to get down from the chariot, among the huge crowd of the Kamarupa women and Yadava men and women. Satya was going to come definitely. But how did Bhama come with her? She was in fact going to Amaranath! This puzzle was not easy to solve.
I instantly brushed aside all the questions and welcomed both of them. As soon as she saw me Bhama threw her arms around my neck. Satya kept staring at both of us. I was really eager to ask Bhama so much about so many things.
After we arrived in my palace in original Dwaraka, Bhama told me at leisure the reason why she returned without going to Amarnath with Sri. The Amaranath cave is located on a high peak of Himavana, way higher than the Kosala kingdom. The initial phase of the journey was going to be along the base of the Himalayas. They would have to go sometimes through snowy regions and at times through thick forests. Immediately after completing this first phase the second phase of sharp ascent of Himawanta begins. It is full of difficult twists and turns of snowy passes. Sri had convinced Bhama initially by telling her ‘It is possible to win the world with the army, but not Mount Himawanta!’ and afterwards how the arduous journey would not be possible for a woman. While listening to that I stopped her in the middle and asked her teasingly, “He may have done his best to convince you, but how come you let go of your usual attitude of being insistent and conceded only in this matter?”
Srikrishna- the Lord of the Universe Page 30
